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Phase cannon
A phase cannon was a phase-modulated energy weapon, a type of particle weapon which served as a precursor to the phaser of the 23rd and 24th centuries. The prototypes of ship-mounted phase cannons were first introduced by the Earth Starfleet in the mid-22nd century, designed as the primary defense of NX class starships and serving as a supplement for the lacking spatial torpedoes of the time. The first NX class vessel to test and actively use phase cannons in battle was the [[Enterprise (NX-01)|NX-01 Enterprise]]. Specifications Designed as a starship-based version of the hand-held phase pistol, the phase cannon was rated for a maximum power output of 500 gigajoules. Like phase pistols, phase cannons emitted a concentrated beam of energy that could be set at different yields. The phase cannon assembly, equipped with multiphasic emitters, had a maximum yield of 80 gigajoules. Upon the cannons' installation, the assembly was located on the same deck as the the ship's armory. (ENT: "Silent Enemy", "Cogenitor") Phase cannons were generally more powerful than spatial torpedoes and were therefore more effective in a firefight. Initially, a ship's phase cannons could not be fired while the vessel was at warp, as doing so would cause the weapon's particle discharge to destabilize the ship's warp field. This would result in serious damage to both of the ship's warp nacelles, and could possibly even destroy them. By 2152, Malcolm Reed had corrected this problem as Enterprise was able to fire its aft phase cannon at warp while it was pursued by the Suliban fleet. (ENT: "Fallen Hero", "Shockwave, Part II") Phase cannons also took some time to charge when manually activated, but this issue was also resolved with the implementation of Reed's tactical alert. (ENT: "Singularity]]") Despite their power, phase cannons were sometimes unable to penetrate the defenses of other alien vessels. Not only did they prove relatively powerless against the first vessel they were used against (ENT: "Silent Enemy"), but it would have also taken a sustained beam to punch through the hull of a D5 class Klingon battle cruiser. That was assuming, of course, that the battle cruiser remained still long enough, which was unlikely. (ENT: "Judgment") Likewise, the cannons could be easily taken out with a single shot from a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. (ENT: "The Expanse") Because of this, Klingons found the cannons, which they identified as "low-yield particle cannons", to be of little threat. (ENT: "Judgment") Uses and Applications Enterprise was originally designed to carry three phase cannons. However, due to Enterprise's premature launch in 2151, Jupiter Station did not get the chance to install the cannons, though Enterprise was given one of the prototypes. On August 30th, 2151, Malcolm Reed and Charles Tucker were given the job of installing the prototype, as well as building two more from scratch. They were able to accomplish the installation -- two forward cannons, one aft -- in 48 hours, a job that would have taken the armory team at Jupiter Station at least a week. The initial test of Enterprise's phase cannons was conducted on September 1st, on an asteroid. The first shot was only to have "shaved" a few meters off the top of a mountain peak, but the blast was so powerful that it formed a new crater within the asteroid. Following this first shot, it was determined that the blast yield of the shot was ten times what was expected, and the resulting overload of the phase modulators caused a plasma recoil that blew out relays across decks C and D. It was then that the crew realized that the cannons had been manipulated by a mysterious alien race. When the alien beings attacked Enterprise, the cannons proved ineffective against the alien vessel's shielding. Reed and Tucker then caused another overload, this time intentionally, while using the gravity plating on C and D decks to absorb the plasma recoil. The resulting overload again increased the canon's blast yield, which disabled the aliens' shields and allowed Enterprise to gain the upper hand. (ENT: "Silent Enemy") In August of 2152, Reed proposed new tactical protocols that would increase the efficiency of the Enterprise's weapons, including the phase cannons. While under the influence of radiation emitted from a nearby singularity, Reed implemented the new protocols without Captain Archer's permission. Later, with the rest of the crew having succumbed to the radiation, Archer and T'Pol attempted to navigate Enterprise away from the singularity as quickly as possible by piloting the starship through a field of debris. When the need arose to use weapons against a large meteoroid that was in the ship's path, T'Pol worried that the phase cannons could not be charged in time. However, when a smaller piece of the meteroid collided with the ship, Reed's tactical protocols initiated and the phase cannons were automatically brought online. T'Pol then used the cannons to destroy the remaining meteoroids, allowing Enterprise to safely escape the singularity. Following this incident, Reed's new security protocols were made standard procedure. (ENT: "Singularity", "Cease Fire") The following month, the cannons were used in an attempt to disable the engines of a Retellian freighter which had captured Commander Tucker. Although the cannons appeared to disable the freighter's port warp nacelle, it was merely a ruse by the freighter's pilot, Firek Goff, to disable the Enterprise's own warp engines. (ENT: "Precious Cargo") The ship's aft phase cannon was later used in defense against a group of Suliban cell ships which were pursuing Enterprise in an attempt to capture the time travel pod in the ship's launch bay. The cannon destroyed at least one cell ship; several Tholian starships took care of the rest. (ENT: "Future Tense") Sometime following this incident, Enterprise received an upgrade which allowed the installation of a second aft phase cannon. (ENT: "Similitude") In 2153, during the Xindi incident, Enterprise fired a single minimum yield burst on a Delphic Expanse sphere to lure an Osaarian pirate ship into close vicinity of Enterprise so Hoshi Sato could download information on the Xindi from the pirate ship's computer banks. Although the first attempt using a single, minimum yield blast from one cannon did not succeed, a second blast using both cannons destroyed the sphere's portal and got the Ossarians' attention. The pirates moved in to attack Enterprise, allowing Sato to successfully download the information they needed. (ENT: "Anomaly") Several months later, when Enterprise entered a polaric field and its hull was bombarded with nucleonic particles, the cannons were redirected towards the hull and used to blast away the particulates which had accumulated on the ship's launch bay doors. This allowed for the launch of the ship's shuttlepods, which were then used to tow the Enterprise a small distance, giving the larger vessel a strong enough momentum to clear the polaric field. (ENT: "Similitude") Alternate Timelines In an alternate timeline in which Earth was destroyed by the Xindi superweapon, phase cannons were still an NX class starship's primary line of defense in 2165. (ENT: "Twilight") Further References * ENT: ** "Cease Fire" ** "The Crossing" ** "Horizon" ** "Proving Ground" ** "Hatchery" ** "Damage" ** "The Forgotten" ** "E²" ** "Storm Front" ** "Storm Front, Part II" ** "Home" (pulsed phase cannons) ** "The Augments" ** "Awakening" ** "Kir'Shara" ** "Babel One" ** "Bound" Background Information It is not known what weapon, besides spatial torpedoes, were used aboard Enterprise prior to (and sometimes after) the installation of the phase cannons. A weapon used by Enterprise during "Broken Bow" appeared to fire a type of plasma burst; there was never any on-screen reference as to what this weapon is called, but it could have been the same type of plasma weapon used aboard the shuttlepods in "Shadows of P'Jem" (ENT). Visual inspection of the ship reveals twelve ports from which phase cannons may be mounted, with the NX-01 having fired from at least ten of those twelve ports in at least one episode, "E²". However, it is unknown whether the weapons fired from these ports were phase cannons or the mystery weapon mentioned above. If they were phase cannons, then several new phase cannons were added previously, likely during the refit prior to the search for the Xindi superweapon. The aft phase cannons seen in "Similitude" were apparently installed during this refit; these cannons, however, were placed in new positions (to the left and right of the launch bay), so it is not clear whether a third aft cannon remained in the original position (just behind the ship's sensor dome) or whether these new cannon ports replaced the older one entirely. Spock's remark in TOS: "Balance of Terror" that the Earth-Romulan War was fought with atomic weapons suggests that the phase cannon and other phase weapons may have utilized a form of atomic energy, assuming, of course, that the weapons were used during the war. However, because an overload of the phase cannon's phase modulators caused a plasma recoil, it seems likely the weapons are operated on plasma. It is possible that Spock's comment did not mean the war was fought entirely with atomic weapons, although that may have been the primary weapon employed during the conflict (i.e., spatial torpedoes). The last reference to the ship's phase cannons occured in "Bound" (ENT), set in 2154. It is unclear whether or not the cannons continued to be used afterwards, although the presence of phase rifles in the 2161-based holodeck scenes in "These Are the Voyages..." make it likely that phase cannons were used until at least that point. It is unknown at which point in time phase cannons were replaced, or if phasers were their immediate successor. Category:Weapons de:Phasenkanone